Welcome to a Well-Seasoned Life. Life is too short to waste any time eating bland food. I'm living a meaningful life while cooking up Southern comfort food, both seasoned with a sense of humor. ~Kim McCallie

Monday, October 13, 2014

Until I received the Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget® 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker With Spoon/Lid, I had never owned a programmable slow cooker. My other slow cookers have basic settings- low, high, and keep warm. So, despite the fact that slow cookers are designed to be a worry-free cooking method, I didn't feel like I could throw ingredients into the slow cooker and let them cook for the nine-plus hours that I am away from home because of the possibility of overcooking my food.

With the Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget® 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker With Spoon/Lid, I have numerous cooking options: first, we have the manual option that I'm used to, next is the programmable option which cooks to a certain point and then automatically switches over to the keep warm mode, and, finally, the probe option for large pieces of meat. Before cooking, insert the probe into the meat and set the desired internal temperature. When the temperature is reached, the slow cooker will move into the keep warm mode so you don't overcook your meat. This is perfect for people like me who are away from home for long periods of time. I once came home from work to find a hockey puck instead of a roast in my slow cooker. Overcooking won't be a problem now.

I've owned several Hamilton Beach slow cookers in the past but this is the only one in my collection that includes a latch and spoon. I'm always hesitant about carrying a slow cooker of food to events because of the threat of it spilling in my car. One of my co-workers had the misfortune of having her slow cooker spill chili all over the front floorboard of her car as she was making her way to one of our work events. Those accidents won't happen with these latches.

To test this slow cooker, I wanted to try something a little outside of the norm of slow cooker meals by testing a bread recipe. First, I lined the slow cooker with parchment paper that was then sprayed with cooking spray. I added ten frozen yeast rolls and programmed the slow cooker on low. The rolls needed to thaw and rise for 1-1/4 hours.

At the end of the rising period, the rolls were fully risen and ready to be baked in the slow cooker. I set the slow cooker to the high setting for another hour and 15 minutes.

At the end of the cooking period, you can see that the rolls had browned around the edges while the tops were still pale. As a person who always burns the bottom of my bread, I was happy to see that the bottom of these rolls were not burned but a nice, golden brown. The rolls were fully cooked at this point, but I chose to brown them in the oven. I picked up the rolls using the parchment paper and put them on a baking sheet. I spread on a little butter and put them under the broiler of my stove for a minute or so to brown the tops.

I was so pleased with the results of "baking" my rolls in the slow cooker. It will definitely be my go-to method for baking bread as it frees up the oven for other dishes especially on busy cooking days over the upcoming holidays. I'm looking forward to many more delicious experiments with my Set 'n Forget® 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker With Spoon/Lid.

Fresh-Baked Dinner Rolls

from Gooseberry Patch's Slow-Cooker Christmas Favorites

8 to 10 frozen dinner rolls

Garnish: softened butter

Line
the bottom of a large slow cooker with a circle of parchment paper.
Lightly spray with non-stick vegetable spray. Arrange frozen rolls in
slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for about 1-1/4 hours, until
rolls have thawed and risen. Turn slow cooker to high setting. Cover and
cook for 1-1/4 hours, until set. For a more golden finish, remove rolls
to a baking sheet; broil for 90 seconds, or until golden. Makes 8 to 10
rolls.

#SlowCookerMeals

***GIVEAWAY***

Would you like to have a Hamilton Beach's Set 'n Forget® 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker With Spoon/Lid of your very own? You're in luck because Hamilton Beach has generously offered to let me host a giveaway for one of my lucky readers. Enter in the widget below. Please give it a few moments to load. Deadline: November 02, 2014.

This would be a blessing! My little car has been nicknamed "little burrito" because a slow cooker full of Mexican Soup tipped over in my trunk and seeped down into crevices of my car. Would love one with a latch and temperature probe!